Without a doubt, you have at least heard of the movie Green Book. It kicked some major butt at this year’s Oscars and for many was one of the stand out movies of 2018. Green Book is one of those movies that you really have to see in order to appreciate how well made it is. From the acting, the directing and the script, it is a solid production from top to bottom.
How to Stream or Download Green Book
You can stream it or you can download the full movie from iTunes. To start, you should click on the button below this review. If you want to see more movies with the main actors of Green Movie, then do this:
- to see more of Mahershala Ali, choose Alita: Battle Angel to watch him as Vector,
- if you’re a fan of the talent of Viggo Mortensen, watch him as Aragorn in one of The Lord of the Rings movies.
And if you like biographical movies check out The Greatest Showman, Bohemian Rhapsody, The Pursuit of Happyness, Sully or First Man.
The Movie Review
The movie is a character-driven drama that is about two people. We, first of all, have Mahershala Ali who plays musical genius and all around classy fellow, Don Shirley. He is an amazing jazz pianist and he is doing a tour in the south…. In the 60s! Which was not exactly the done thing for black musicians back then.
The name of the movie, Green Book is actually based on the fact there was a book that told black performers the safe places they could stay when they were traveling in the south. Which is kind of interesting and the book is something that is in the movie as it is used to that Don can go to places that are “safe” to eat, sleep and so on.
In order to make his tour safely, Don hires Tony Vallelonga who is played by Viggo Mortensen. Tony is a tough guy bouncer who is set in his ways and is not scared to throw down. He is pretty uncultured and the complete opposite of Don. It is two people who you would never think in a million years would get on….. but they do.
The movie is them going from place to place, growing as they do. The performances from both Ali and Mortensen are truly remarkable. I think they are great in their own right, but together they have this fantastic chemistry that just oozes off the screen as you watch it. You may think that the movie will be all about Don taking Tony under his wing and making him more cultured.
Green Book though is far more than that. Yes, that is part of it, but a bit of Tony also rubs off on Don and that is just as much fun to watch. It is awesome how Tony stands up for Don when they do inevitably come across some racists who do not think that Don should be performing and they actually threaten his life.
When you tell someone the premise of Green Book they may hit back at you with “is that it?” But I feel this really is a movie that is rather hard to describe when it comes to its brilliance. It will make you think, make you emphasize with both characters and it will make you angry in places too. It really is a very well made movie and worth of all the praise that it has gotten.
There is some controversy with how true to life the events of the movie are as some members of Don Shirley’s family have spoken out about it. I cannot really say much about that. What I can say is that Green Book is an excellent movie and it features two amazing performances from two incredible actors.
